Jeannette Nelson

Little Rock, IA  

 Jeannette “Nettie” Nelson age 86 of Little Rock, Iowa died Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at Sunset Hospice Cottage in Worthington, MN. 

 Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 30, 2024, at the First Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, IA, with Pastor Steve Anderson officiating.  

 Visitation will be one hour prior to services. 

 Burial will follow at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Little Rock, IA. 

 Jeannette Jean Nelson was born on January 31, 1938, to Mary Visker and Harold Heimendinger of Little Rock, IA. She grew up in Little Rock and graduated from Little Rock High School in 1956. Jeannette lived with her grandparents Jans and Jennie Visker.

 From the time she graduated, she wanted to know more about her family. Her mother Mary was an orphan train rider in 1918 in New York, along with Mary’s sister, Jennie. Jeannette found out she had a different last name, and she wanted to know the connection to where the Heimendinger came in.

 Jeannette loved to do research due to the orphan train movement which was started in New York to provide homes to unfortunate children in eastern cities and so these orphans were transported to the Midwest. This is how Jeannette’s mother came to meet her father’s relatives on the orphan train.

 Jeannette spent her growing up years staying in Little Rock by being a childcare worker and later she worked at Sibley Egg and Poultry, Campbell Soup Company in Worthington, MN, and Chase Bag in Sibley for about 18 years. She was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary and town treasurer for Little Rock for several years. All this led to doing family research as she wanted to know more about her father’s family and as time went on, she became involved with researching family names as there was a lot of information out there. 

 Jeannette met George Nelson, and they were married on July 22, 1961, at the First Presbyterian Church in Little Rock. To this union two sons were born, Roger and Donald. After 29 years of marriage, George passed away on October 30, 1992. Jeannette also worked for the Good Samaritan Care Center in George and retired from there at age 62. 

 She loved to play the organ and piano and was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, where she was very involved as a Sunday school teacher, and other activities. She liked sewing, knitting, crocheting, planting flowers, and gardening. She enjoyed going to flea markets and had a special friend, Rick Koerselman, whom she introduced it to. She also loved fishing, camping, vacationing in Minnesota, and visiting with friends and neighbors. Jeannette also had another special friend, Jan Tiesler who took her to appointments and they had many special times together. 

 Left to cherish her memory are her two sons, Roger (Lisa) Nelson of Boyden, IA, and Donald Nelson of Little Rock, IA; five grandchildren, Donald’s children, Ivy and Brandon and Roger’s children, Kayla, Kelsey, and Bryce and eight great-grandchildren; four siblings, Jim Johnson of Brewster, MN, Paul Johnson of Round Lake, MN, Le Roy Johnson of Worthington, MN, and Robert Johnson of Sibley, IA; nieces, nephews, and other extended family members. 

 She was preceded in death by her mother and stepfather, Mary and Bert Reimersma; five brothers, Richard, Elmer, Marvin, John, and Donald Johnson; and a special friend Al Gleason.